Friday, June 01, 2001
Woods, Garcia lurking in Memorial
Tiger recovers to end first round two strokes back of lead
By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer
DUBLIN — Former Ohio State golfer Chris Smith's 66 tied for the first-round lead at the Memorial Tournament Thursday, but what's swimming in his wake is more intriguing.
Tiger Woods and Spaniard Sergio Garcia are in a group of 11 players who shot 4-under 68s in windy conditions and on the fast greens to finish two back of Smith and Scott Verplank. Jeff Sluman and Stuart Appleby are one back (67s) of the leaders.
Everybody — even Woods — wants somebody to go toe to toe with the reigning king of golf on a regular basis, and nobody makes a better villain than somebody from overseas. It's why the Ryder Cup matches are so popular and why so many Americans loathe the gamesmanship employed by Seve Ballesteros every time he teed it up.
Garcia, 21, idolizes his countryman Ballesteros, and that's one reason he won't cave in to the critics who want him to change his swing. Ballesteros lost his game completely when he tried to restructure his swing.
“Everybody is talking, "Tiger changed his swing,' and blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah it's very good,” Garcia said of Woods' swing change last year that opened the door to his four straight major victories. “But it takes too much risk to try. His swing is different (than it was), yeah, but it's not that big of a difference. He swings it more or less on the same plane. To change a swing like mine, it's all feel. If you lose that feel, it doesn't matter how you swing it, you're not going to be able to hit it the right way.”
Garcia is more impressed by Woods' mental game. Woods hit the ball into the
water twice Thursday within the first five holes. A gust of wind blew his approach into the drink on No.3, and he chunked a 3-iron approach on No.5. Yet never did he collapse.
“It's just the way he plays,” Garcia said. “He's so aggressive and so good, you know he can stick it in every hole. It doesn't matter what it is. He makes double bogey (on No.3) and it still doesn't get to him. Well, probably it did get to him a little bit, but he was able to recover.”
The key to Woods' round might have been the wedge he hit to 10 feet on No.5 after getting wet. He made the putt for a bogey, made the turn at 2-over 38, and then eagled the 11th (driver, 3-iron to 20 feet) and 15th (3-wood, 5-iron to 4 feet) for a 30 on the back.
“The message is still the same — I try on every shot; I don't bag it,” Woods said. “You've got to be patient and know that you can turn it around, and then be positive in it. ... I really wasn't hitting the ball great, but I was hitting it good enough. ... Give myself chances, make a couple putts here and there, and next thing you know you might get back to even, or 1-under. I was very fortunate I made (those) two eagles.”
Garcia's stock rose two weeks ago when he won for the first time on the PGA Tour at the MasterCard Colonial. But the field didn't include Woods. Woods said when he won for the first time on tour (1996 at Las Vegas), it gave him great confidence that he built upon. If Garcia can “keep doing it ... keep (himself) there ... keep putting (himself) there,” the battle soon may be joined, Woods said.
In the 25-year history of the Memorial, no first-round leader has gone on to win it. Which, of course, makes the story only better if Smith or Verplank is able to build on his lead today and then hold off the field.
“I've looked forward to this (playing in the Memorial), oh, for a mere 10 years, probably,” said Smith, an All-American who graduated Ohio State in 1991. “I was geared up, ready to go, and I was the first one out this morning. It was cold, and I had way too much adrenaline going and hooked (my drive) into the trees.”
But he punched out with a 5-iron, then pitched a shot to 15 feet and sunk it to save par. After that, he had seven birdies and one bogey.
“I felt like I was teeing it up in the U.S. Open,” Smith said.
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Woods, Garcia lurking in Memorial
